Container closure

ABSTRACT

A closure for a wide mouth glass container having a circumferential bead or enlargement at the finish of the container. A circumferential gasket of resilient material is adapted to contact the inner surface of the container finish and extend outwardly around the circumferential bead. A cap member has a central web portion positioned within the gasket and a peripheral portion which extends upwardly and outwardly around the gasket and the circumferential bead. The surface area of the central portion is greater than the area of a surface defined by a plane passing through the juncture of the central and peripheral portions so that upward pressure on the web tends to increase its diameter and urge it against the interior portion of the gasket.

' United iS tates Patent 1 lnventor Herbert C. Snyder Brockway, Pa.Appl. No. 831,116 Filed June 6, 1969 Patented Jan. 19, 1971 AssigneeBrockway Glass Company, Inc.

Brockway, Pa.

CONTAINER CLOSURE 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl. 215/40,

215/39 Int. Cl. [365d 23/00, B65d 53/00 Field ofSearch 215/40, 39, 52;220/66, 67, 24.5 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1935 Burns8/1943 TeVander 9/1967 Martin Primary Examiner-George T. HallAttorney-Christel and Bean ABSTRACT: A closure for a wide mouth glasscontainer having a circumferential bead or enlargement at the finish ofthe container. A circumferential gasket of resilient material is adaptedto contact the inner surface of the container finish and extendoutwardly around the circumferential head. A cap member has a centralweb portion positioned within the PATENTEDJANIQIQYI 3555335 INVENTOR.

HEQBERT C. SNYDER ATTORNEYS 1 CONTAINER CLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to container closures and, moreparticularly, to a novel closure for containers used in storingpressurized fluids.

In the past, containers for storing pressurized fluids of the kindhaving a cap type closure have been restricted to rather narrow mouthsor openings. More particularly, it has not been possible to exceed aglass container'finish diameter of about 38 millimeters and apply a capwith sufficient security to hold the pressure generated by maltbeverages and carbonated water. This is because the closures have beendesigned to rely on the resilience of the sealing gasket and crimpingforce of the crown or screw thread to resist the internal pressure. Thisprinciple works well on small finishes, but as the diameter increases,the total upward load becomes great enough to overcome the gasketresilience or to deform the cap'enough to lift the gasket from contactwith the glass sealing surface, both of which result in gas and productleakage.

It is highly desirable to provide a wide mouth closure or pressurecontainers because tumbler shaped glass containers, as opposed toconventional small mouth bottles, are more economical to manufacture andin themselves more desirable containers for certain products. Economiesresult because a wide mouth closure would allow glass containers to bemanufactured by what is known as the press and blow process whichresults in better glass distribution, lighter weight, and faster machinespeeds. 7

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a novel closurefor containers used in storing pressurized fluids which closure includesa circumferential gasket and a cap member within the gasket. The closurerelies on conventional top or side sealing only to hold the initialportion'of pressure generation. As the pressure increases, it causes acentral portion of the cap member to be stressed outwardly in a mannerwhich applies a radially outward force compressing the gasket againstthe container inner surfaceQAs a result the sealing force betweentheclosure and the container increases as the pressure of the contentsincreases. I

By way of illustration, the present invention will be described withparticular reference to glass containers, but the principles of theinvention may be variously applies to containers of other materials.While two specific embodiments of the principles of the presentinvention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing and describedin'more detail in the following specification, it is to be understoodthat such embodiments are by way of example only and that variousmechanical modifications may be made without departing from the spiritof the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a cross-sectional view of'acontainer provided with a closure constructed in accordancewith oneembodiment of the present invention showing the closure just afterassembly on the container and prior to any increase in pressure of thecontents;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 1 showingthe closure after substantial internal pressure generation; 7

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a container provided with a closureconstructed in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention showingthe closure just after assembly on the container andprior to any increase in pressure of the contents; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showingthe closure after substantial internal pressure generatiom DESCRIPTIONOF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of theclosure 10 provided by the present invention as it would appear justafter assembly on a container II and prior to any increase in pressureof the contents. Container 11, preferably made of glass, is of the typeincluding an end wall 12, a continuous sidewall 13, and a circumferential bead or enlargement I4 which constitutes the finish of thecontainer.

v Closure 10 comprises an annular gasket 20 of resilient material, forexample rubber, adapted to be placed around the open end of container11. As shown in its assembled position in FIG. I, gasket 20 is incontact with the portion of the inner surface of container sidewall 13at the open end thereof. Gasket 20 extends therefrom outwardly andaround bead l4 and in this particular illustration substantiallysurrounds the entire outer surface of bead I4.

Closure 10 further comprises a cap member 21 having a central portion 22and a peripheral portion 23 which meet at a juncture 24. Cap member 21is formed from relatively thin metal and is deformable under pressure.While metal is preferred, other fluid impervious materials which exhibitslight or limited bending or deformation in response to pres sure can beused for cap member 21 without departing from the spirit and scope ofthis invention.

In assembled condition as shown in FIG. 1, cap member 21 is positionedwithin gasket 20 so that juncture 24 contacts the inner surface of thegasket and the peripheral portion 23 of the cap extends outwardlytherefrom around gasket 20 in contact therewith and thus around bead 14.In this particular embodiment cap portion 23 extends substantially overthe entire surface of gasket 20 and bead 14. 1

As seen in FIG. 1, cap central portion 22 comprises an inner surface 22adisposed in a first plane generally perpendicular with respect to thecontainer axis and an outer surface 22b disposed at an angle withrespect to the first plane. In particular, surface 22b extends outwardlyand upwardly from the generally horizontal surface 22a to juncture 24.By virtue of this construction, the total surface area of cap centralportion 22 is greater than the area of a plane passing through thejuncture 24. g

FIG. 2 shows the condition of closure 10 after pressure generation ofthe contents, such as a malt or carbonated beverage, in container 11.The resilience of gasket 20, and the fact that cap peripheral portion 23extends around bead 14, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, maintains closure 10on container 11 in a manner similar to the conventional top or sidesealing action relied upon in relatively narrow mouth containersprovided with crown caps.

As the pressure of. the contents increases, the upward force acting onclosure 10 causes cap center portion 22 upwardly to compress gasket 20against the inner surface of container wall 13. As shown in detail inFIG. 2, after pressure generation has occurred inner surface 22a of capcentral portion 22 moves outwardly and outer surface 22b pivotsoutwardly about juncture 24 in a sort of toggle action. As a result, aside squeeze is exerted on gasket 20 by cap member 21 particularly inthe region of juncture 24', as indicated in FIG. 2.

By virtue of this construction, the internal pressure generated by thecontainer contents forces cap member 21 to seal the principles 20 moretightly against the container wall. Thus the container mouth or openingcan be made significantly larger than heretofore possible in containersfor pressurized liquids. By way of illustration, a closure constructedin accordance with principles of this invention was found to holdsuccessfully five volume carbonated soda in a 68 millimeter finishdiameter tumbler-shaped container.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the closure, here designated 10',provided by the present invention as it would appear just after assemblyon a container 11' and prior to any increase in pressure of thecontents. Container II is in all sure comprises an annular gasket 30 ofresilient material, for example rubber, adapted to be placed around theopen end or finish of container 11'.

As shown in FIG. 3, gasket 30 is in contact with the portion of theinner surface of container sidewall 13 at the open end thereof andextends inwardly therealong a slight distance past the bead l4. Gasket30 also extends outwardly around bead l4 and, similar to the embodimentof FIGS. 1 and 2, substantially surrounds the entire outer surface ofbead l4.

Closure 10 further comprises a cap member 31 having a central portion 32and a peripheral portion 33 which meet at a juncture 34. Cap member 31,like cap 21, is of relatively thin sheet metal so as to be pressuredeformable. Here again other fluid impervious materials which exhibitslight or limited bending or deformation in response to pressure can beused for cap member 31 without departing from the spirit and scope ofthis invention.

In assembled condition as shown in FIG. 3, cap member 31 is positionedwithin gasket 30 so that juncture 34 contacts the inner surface ofgasket 30. Cap central portion 32 is bowed inwardly or in a directiontoward container bottom 12'. By virtue of this construction, the surfacearea of cap central portion 32 is greater than the area of a planepassing through the juncture 34 of the cap central and peripheralportions.

Cap peripheral portion 33 is provided with an inwardly extending annularrecess 35 adapted to receive a portion of gasket 30 as shown in FIG. 3.Preferably recess 35 is located near juncture 34. The remainder of capperipheral portion 33 extends outwardly therefrom around gasket 30 incontact therewith and thus around bead 14', in this particularillustration substantially over the entire surface of gasket 30 and bead14.

FIG. 4 shows the condition of closure 10 after pressure generation ofthe contents, such as a malt or carbonated beverage, in container 11'.The resilience of gasket 30 and the fact that cap peripheral portion 33extends around bead 14' as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 maintains closure 10on container 11 as shown in initial pressure generation as is closure 10shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As the pressure of the contents increases beyondthis initial amount, the force thereof acting on closure 10' causes capcenter portion 32 to bow outwardly to a position such as that shown inFIG. 4 wherein the degree of curvature of portion 32 is less than theportion shown in FIG. 3. in other words, cap center portion 32 increasesin diameter as the presure of the contents increases. This, in turn,results in gasket 30 being compressed radially outwardly against theinner surface of container wall 13 and, in addition, produces a crimpingor squeezing of the portion of gasket 30 received in recess 35. As aresult, a side squeeze or horizontal force is exerted on gasket 30 bycap member 31 particularly in the region of juncture 34. In addition,relative movement between gasket 30 and cap member 31 is prevented bythe crimping or squeezing action.

The closure 10' constructed in accordance with this embodiment of theinvention has all the advantages specified in conjunction with closure10 of the first embodiment. When a closure provided by the presentinvention is used on glass containers the finish is designed primarilyto hold the cap in place and not to compress the gasketing to overcomethe working load resulting from pressure within thecontainer. Theclosure cap can be removed by prying it off or by providing a central orperipheral tear tab thereon. The closure of the present inventionadvantageously allows tumbler shaped containers to be used forcarbonated beverage bottles and wide mouth glass containers can bemanufactured by the press and blow process which results in better glassdistribution, lighter weight. and faster machine speeds.

lclaim:

1. A closure for a container of the type having a circumferential beador enlargement at the open end thereof, said closure comprising:

a. an annular gasket of resilient material disposed against a portion ofthe inner surface of the container sidewall and extending upwardly andaround the circumferential bead;

and

b. a cap member having a central portion and a peripheral portion, saidcap. member central portion being positioned within the containeropening so that the juncture of the central and peripheral portionscontacts said gasket and said peripheral portion extends upwardly aroundsaid gasket and the circumferential bead, said central portion formedinwardly relative to the plane of said juncture and being of greaterarea than the area of a plan passing through said juncture wherebypressure of the contents of said container tending to flatten thecentral portion of said cap member applies radially outward sealingforce by said juncture against said gasket and container wall.

2. The closure defined in claim 1 wherein said cap central portioncomprises an outer marginal portion extending angularly inwardly fromsaid juncture whereby internal pressure flattens said angular marginalportion to exert said radially outward sealing force.

3. The closure defined in claim 1 wherein said cap central portion isbowed inwardly and wherein said cap peripheral portion has formedtherein an annular inwardly extending retum-bent recess adapted toreceive a portion of said gasket.

4. in combination, a container having a circumferential bead orenlargement at the open end thereof, and a closure for said containercomprising:

a. an annular gasket of resilient material disposed against a portion ofthe inner surface of the sidewall of said container and extendingupwardly and around the circumferential bead; and

. a cap member having a central portion and a peripheral portion, saidcap member central portion being positioned within the opening of saidcontainer so that the juncture of the central and peripheral portionscontacts said gasket and said peripheral portion extends upwardly aroundsaid gasket and the circumferential bead, said central portion formedinwardlyrelative to the plane of said juncture and being of greater areathan the area of a plane passing through said juncture whereby pressureof the contents of said container tending to flatten the central portionof said cap member applies radially outward sealing force by saidjuncture against said gasket and container wall.

5. The combination defined in claim 4 wherein said cap central portioncomprises an outer marginal portion extending angularly inwardly fromsaid juncture whereby internal pressure flattens said angular marginalportion to exert said radially outward sealing force.

6. The combination defined in claim 4 wherein said cap central portionis bowed inwardly and wherein said cap peripheral portion has formedtherein an annular inwardly extending retum-bent recess adapted toreceive a portion of said gasket.

1. A closure for a container of the type having a circumferential beador enlargement at the open end thereof, said closure comprising: a. anannular gasket of resilient material disposed against a portion of theinner surface of the container sidewall and extending upwardly andaround the circumferential bead; and b. a cap member having a centralportion and a peripheral portion, said cap member central portion beingpositioned within the container opening so that the juncture of thecentral and peripheral portions contacts said gasket and said peripheralportion extends upwardly around said gasket and the circumferentialbead, said central portion formed inwardly relative to the plane of saidjuncture and being of greater area than the area of a plan passingthrough said juncture whereby pressure of the contents of said containertending to flatten the central portion of said cap member appliesradially outward sealing force by said juncture against said gasket andcontainer wall.
 2. The closure defined in claim 1 wherein said capcentral portion comprises an outer marginal portion extending angularlyinwardly from said juncture whereby internal pressure flattens saidangular marginal portion to exert said radially outward sealing force.3. The closure defined in claim 1 wherein said cap central portion isbowed inwardly and wherein said cap peripheral portion has formedtherein an annular inwardly extending return-bent recess adapted toreceive a portion of said gasket.
 4. In combination, a container havinga circumferential bead or enlargement at the open end thereof, and aclosure for said container comprising: a. an annular gasket of resilientmaterial disposed against a portion of the inner surface of the sidewallof said container and extending upwardly and around the circumferentialbead; and b. a cap member having a central portion and a peripheralportion, said cap member central portion being positioned within theopening of said container so that the juncture of the central andperipheral portions contacts said gasket and said peripheral portionextends upwardly around said gasket and the circumferential bead, saidcentral portion formed inwardly relative to the plane of said junctureand being of greater area than the area of a plane passing through saidjuncture whereby pressure of the contents of said container tending toflatten the central portion of said cap member applies radially outwardsealing force by said juncture against said gasket and container wall.5. The combination defined in claim 4 wherein said cap central portioncomprises an outer marginal portion extending angularly inwardly fromsaid juncture whereby internal pressure flattens said angular marginalportion to exert said radially outward sealing force.
 6. The combinationdefined in claim 4 wherein said cap central portion is bowed inwardlyand wherein said cap peripheral portion has formed therein an annularinwardly extending return-bent recess adapted to receive a portion ofsaid gasket.